Ah, drama in the Sierra Community.
Actually, Sierra Planet had quite a bit of drama back in the day, but 98% of it was kept off the message boards and reserved for Yahoo Messenger/AIM.
Thankfully, all of that has been resolved. But then again, Sierra Planet is a shadow of what it once was, sadly.
Even with the new King's Quest game out, Sierra Planet hasn't had tons of traffic like it once did.
Talk to you later!!!
JDHJANUS
Josh

I actually generally prefer almost all of Sierra's remakes of their classic games, with the exception of the Quest for Glory I Remake (don't get me wrong, that game is beautiful in its own right, but I really enjoy the EGA original. This, though, is moreso due to my love of Sierra's SCI-0 design system). My main reason for preferring the remakes is my general dislike of Sierra's AGI system, though. I have only played the SQI remake once (whereas I have played the original several times), but I liked it a lot better, mainly due to Josh Mandel's terrific dialog, Ken Allen's soundtrack, and as Troels mentioned earlier, the seamless transition of a parser game into a point-and-click interface.
I'm not going to lie. I don't generally have a much of an eye for art in games. I've recently learned to appreciate it, but I mainly play games for their story and character development, and since I haven't played through the Space Quest series as many times as the other people on this forum, it's difficult for me to really say whether or not that it fits the overall feel or vibe of the series. I know that for me, I was able to enjoy the game quite a bit while I played it, and it is one of my favorite Space Quest games (after Space Quest III and V). I took some time in composing this post to go online and really compare the artwork in this game to the rest of the series, and I do admit, it is quite different indeed! I didn't notice it when I was playing through the game myself last year, but seeing it in comparison to the others, it's quite surprising just how different it is.
I can definitely still appreciate the artistic direction of this game, though. I've never seen any 1950's sci-fi, so I really have no basis for comparison except for what a Google search could show me, but I can definitely see the point that several people have brought up about that vibe. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but I think that if it were to fit with the overall feel of the original series, it would need a lot more darker colors. Mark seems to favor a lot of blue, green, and purple in his games, which are mostly missing from the SQI Remake. Again, not a bad thing, but a definite stylistic difference nonetheless.
So, in conclusion, while I totally understand several people's perspectives in preferring the originals, at the same time, I think that the remake in and of itself is a fun game, and one that I would definitely play again someday!
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

The information on that site is in error concerning the SQI Remake. I believe the last Sierra game released for the Apple II was King's Quest IV AGI. The Atari ST handled releases up through Sierra's SCI-0 releases, they stopped support after the move to VGA (although I suppose technically it wouldn't have been that hard to port the EGA version of the SQI Remake to the Atari ST). Nevertheless, Collector is correct in that the only versions that were released for the remake were DOS (both EGA and VGA), Macintosh, and Amiga.
I *have* seen a KIXX box that uses the SQI Remake cover art for an Atari ST version, but my understanding is that it was the AGI version, and not the remake.
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

Stunt Flyer was not a Red Baron rip off, but actually a game that was released by Sierra in 1983. It didn't sell very well, though.
http://www.sierragamers.com/Stunt-Flyer
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

I actually had the honor of speaking to Douglas Herring today concerning the Space Quest I Remake.
According to him:
"About two-thirds of the backgrounds for SQ1 VGA were indeed painted in Korea. It was a cost move that I did not personally like, but that is the way things were back in the day. I laid them all out, and they trickled out to Korea a few at a time, another reason there were some inconsistencies. They learned from SQ1 to send all of the layouts to a game at once, that way they got the same team of artists and there was more continuity. A few came out quite nice; others, not so much. I painted the nine screen scroller (on Kerona) as one painting. I did a couple of others around that area, but most of the rest were painted by others on my team and a few local contractors as well."
So it seems that both Sierra and Korea had a hand in the artwork for the SQI Remake.
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

If you'll have me, I will be continuing my story on the Quest for the Two Guys from Andromeda, working up to the conclusion (approximately 6-7 chapters left in the story, so we'll see how things go down here!)
Looking forward to season 3!!!!
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

You just very aptly summed up a lot of the problems that I have with King's Quest III. I hope you enjoy King's Quest IV! It's one of my favorites in the series, and it's a really fun game. As Tomimt mentioned, it definitely has the typical King's Quest dead ends, but it's much more forgiving than King's Quest III, and although the entire game is on a timer (you have to actually complete it in 24 real-time hours, I believe), it's fairly simple to do, even if you don't necessarily know what you're doing.
And yes, you should definitely use Collector's installer! The sound effects along with the beautiful Munt emulation for the music really makes it worth it. King's Quest IV was Sierra's first game to have a real soundtrack, and William Goldstein did a fantastic job on it!
Talk to you later!
Josh

It's nice to hear overall general positive (or at the very least, less negative) perspectives of this trailer here than in a lot of places (some people have downright attacked the game based on the trailer in other locations on the web).
I myself am actually looking forward to it, and I found the trailer to be really cool and exciting. Even if the game does have some action elements in it, I actually enjoy action-adventures, and I've played several that have been designed so well that they really shine out even moreso than some traditional adventure games (such as Ico or Okami for the PS2). I think, though, that this game will have even more adventure elements than either of those games, as I don't foresee this game having traditional battles/bosses like you would find in either of those games, or even Mask of Eternity.
Another thing to point out is that adventure games have not always been absent of arcade/action elements in them either. Look at all of the Space Quest games. If you took a game like Space Quest III and only showed scenes of the space battle or Nukem-Dukem Robots, would you get the feel of a traditional adventure game from those two items alone? Sierra put arcade sequences into a lot of their games, so it doesn't seem all that strange to have action/arcade elements in a new King's Quest game (as long as it doesn't involve a painfully annoying beanstalk climb or a treacherous mountain path...)
To me, what I'm most concerned about, is whether or not it has a strong story that pays homage to the series as a whole. From the trailer, it seems pretty awesome. I like the little references that they show to the first game, so I have hopes that the storyline will continue to stay true to the legacy that has been developed through the series over the past 30 years.
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

Loved the newest chapter!!! Thanks for sharing!
I'm guessing more will be told in the following chapters, but am I to presume the Gritt incident happened sometime between Space Quest XI and XII? Looking forward to reading more!!!
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

JimmyTwoBucks, you can use a certain item and still end up on the pirate ship after it sets sail, but the item itself is not always the most reliable thing to use, and it can lead to some unusual situations (and most often, death). Still, you aren't completely in a dead end situation, if memory serves me correctly.
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

Yay!!! Glad that your kitty is back!!!! I've been meaning to ask about that. Hope that new kitty and old kitty end up becoming close friends!!!
You don't think that Pete Toleman had anything to do with your kitty being returned to you, do you?
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

Looking forward to reading this!!!
Just read it, and I thought it was AMAZING! Looking forward to reading more chapters!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing, Akril!!! Love your work!
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

I regret to inform everyone that my newest chapter will once again be delayed. I was really hoping to work on it during the holiday weekend; however, craziness + sickness + business prevented me from doing so. Sorry to drop the ball again! I promise I haven't given up on the story!
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh

Congratulations on beating the first two games in the series!!!
The sword merely exists as an optional puzzle solution. You never actually have to use it in the game, although you can use it as an alternate solution (for less points) for several puzzles. As far as the actual "best" solution, I have researched several times and haven't been able to find any evidence in my research of mythology or fairy tales that would suggest such an unusual puzzle solution.
King's Quest III is my least favorite in the series, but a lot of people like it, so I hope you enjoy it as well! I feel that it's definitely longer than the first two, mainly due to numerous things at the beginning that must be done over a longer period of time when the wizard goes on his journeys/naps. And casting those spells is a pain in the rear end. O_o
Talk to you later!
JDHJANUS
Josh